WAITING FOR HENLEY

Jim Henley, while talking about Watchmen, sketches out his thoughts on the superhero comic as the perfect metaphorical vehicle to explore the ethical duties of power relationships. I'm not going to try and summarize it; Jim's a better writer than I, and deserves to have his thoughts read as they were written; but suffice to say, he should hurry up with his long promised OGN. Some of us are real interested to read it.

I DO NOT THINK THAT WORD MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS

I know I said posting would be light. Sue me.

Anyway, Graeme points to this article by Brandon Thomas about the horrors of "decompressed" comics; and of course, Thomas is just the tip of that particular wave of discontent. I'd be much more likely to jump in myself if I thought that any of these folks knew what the hell they were talking about.

Look. Decompression is a narrative technique; it is not shorthand for "talky comics." Seriously. Go pull The Dark Knight Returns off the shelf. Find the scene in Book Two where Joe Chill tears off Mrs. Wayne's pearl necklace. Look at it. Notice the abundance of little panels? This is decompression; an action that could drawn as two panels is drawn as two pages of panels to generate a particular mood; in this case, tension. Decompression has nothing to do with the story being told--it has to do with tools used to tell the story. A decompressed story can be full of action, as a quick look at lots of manga demonstrates. Polemical tip: it helps if you can correctly name what it is that's driving you nuts. Let's not stigmatize what can be an incredibly powerful tool for telling stories.

Now, having gone and called the good folks dumb, I'm going to be nice. I think that the substance of this critique, though mislabeled, has some force: I think that monthly comics are often padded out. But this is due to the market, which can't support monthly comics without the trades. If monthlies were still viable there would be no line wide push for six issue arcs, ready for collecting into trades. The solution is not to save the monthly. The solution is to finally let it die and to start publishing something else.

NOTE: I can't find my copy of Dark Knight. It might not be Issue Two. But you know what section I mean.

UPDATE: Dirk correctly points out that it was Brandon Thomas, not Brandon Stenger. Maybe I was thinking of the Sequential Swap member. Or maybe I was just lazy. In any event, it's always embarissing to have major fact errors in pieces talking about the factual errors of others. D'oh. Also, it's entirely possible that the example I used came from Scott Mcloud, or someone else; it seems familiar to me, but I really don't have the time to track it down. In any event, I'm not taking credit for it.

DAVE: WHAT HAPPENED

So. It's been a while. Again. And it's not as if I've been lacking things to say...but the sad truth is that real life has moved working on the page here way down on the priority list. Posting will be Intermittent until further notice. Apologies.

SHAOLIN, WHERE YA AT?

Dirk via Neilalien points out to this list of songs with comic related lyrics. Pretty good, but why no love for the Wu? I mean, it's members sometimes go by Tony Stark and Johnny Blaze; and songs sometimes sound like extracts from the Handbook to the Marvel Universe. Johnny Blaze the Ghost Rider, ghost stories by the campfire, the nightbreed ducking from the Wu-Tang production....

FOLLOW THE LEADERS

Ok, I think that we've pretty well established that, from a practical standpoint, this whole Mars thing doesn't make any damn sense at all. But even if it wasn't going to be a technical clusterfuck, the question remains: why do we need a national rallying point? Why is it the job of the government to give us one?

I mean, I thought that the whole point of this little experiment was to let each and all of us, to the greatest extent possible, pursue their own happiness; and the government was there to play referee, to prevent us from hurting other people. And if each of our visions of happiness were different? Big deal. To believe in America is to believe in an ethos of freedom, not a public works project. We don't have to line up for a Great Leap Upwards to come together; we don't have to follow the Leader. A respect for the freedom of each citizen, freely exercised, is enough a national purpose for me.

I mean, I respect the government. The government, both federal and local, does many good things. It does things that make my life better in many, many concrete ways. But it does not give my life meaning. It does not provide me with my reason for being; that's a job for my family, my friends, and my God. I don't need the President to be Moses; I don't want anyone in the government to tell me what the point and purpose of my life should be, or to be impressed into building a new martian pyramid. I voted for a President, not a Pharoah.

I supported Bush in 2004 because I thought that Gore had the greater messianic tendencies. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

HELP THE AGED

Anyone out there care to englighten me on how to set up comments? I'm sure its very simple to those of you out there who, unlike me, have been doing this for a while. Please bear in mind when offering assistence that I'm dumb. It may be necassary to type slowly, and in all caps.

Any help is appreciated, and should be emailed to the Dave Intermittent email address over yonder. Thanks.

IF YOU WANT TO DESTROY THIS SWEATER

So, evidently, it's bad for Gen. Clark to wear sweaters in an effort to try and project an image that appeals to voters. Why is trying to appeal to voters a bad thing? Because Glenn Reynolds says so, dammit; and really, there is no more need for analysis once this pronouncement is made from on high.

Presumably, Glen intends to suggest that this shows desperation on the part of Clark; or that the "natural" Clark is not what the candidates want. And one or the both of these might be in fact correct. But let's not kid ourselves: Clark is not the only politician to worry about PR, or to alter themselves or their message in response to PR concerns. Are we really to think that President Bush doesn't worry about the way people see him? Are we really sure that his appearance isn't stage managed? Really? The RNC employs all those pollsters and spindoctors just to keep them off the streets? It's the Republican version of midnight basketball?

Right. I guess Bush must always fly onto aircraft carriers in navy jets and wearing a full flight suit, then. And all of the President's photo ops are magical, spontaneous events; pictures are never staged for political effect. Karl Rove has never, shut your mouth, tried to position Bush or policy to better appeal to voters, no sir. And even if, you know, maybe they did rig policy to appeal to voters, which is worse: jury-rigging up illegal steel tariffs or wearing more wool? I mean, one is an offense against free trade; the other is a crime against fashion. Clark is clearly the more insecure.

It's one thing to be naive about the dirty business of politics. It's quite another to know the truth, and, in the service of a political assault pretend that business as usual is a sign of weakness. A fool does the first; a hack, the second. Put Instapundit, in this case at least, in the second category.

MICHIGAN PORN LAWS: THE RETURN.

Remember that Michigan law, the one that was going to make displaying comics in places where kids could see them potentially illegal? The one we were all worked up about? It's been challenged by a consortium of booksellers. More as things develop. I'd guess there'll be a request for a preliminary injunction staying enforcment of the law; and the hearing on that request should be a pretty good barometer on the merits.

RECYCLING: IT'S GOOD FOR YOU?

So, now that Sean and Jim have cleared the waters of sharks and other lurking horrors, I’m taking the plunge too: I don’t think that the Marvel Age books are either a bad idea or a desecration of comics history.

Taking up the first point, I don’t see the business downside of this for Marvel. Those stories are paid for, and aren’t making them money, leaving aside a trade program based on nostalgia; why not put those stories to use? And hey, maybe if these are successful, Marvel can better subsidize new genres....ah, to dream.....but, assuming that Marvel doesn’t flood the bookstore market with dreck, it can’t hurt. Besides, we’ve already established that multiple genres are a key to the manga boom; and it therefore can’t hurt to have some superhero’s in the casserole.

With respect to the second point: yeah, I suppose that it’s sacrilege or something to redo the StanSteveJack stories. But on the other hand, movies are remade. Songs are covered. Plays are restaged. Why are comics sacrosanct? I can’t think of a good reason. And it’s not as if this will poison kids to the glories of Jack Kirby; I mean, I got news for everyone. Kids, by and large, are going to think that Kirby art looks silly. I know I did. I remember looking at old DC Who’s Who’s and very clearly thinking that some art looked cool and some art did not. And Kirby art did not. I remember getting a Captain Victory issue in one of those Sears’ catalog twenty comics grab bags. I thought that it sucked; it looked ameaturish. At that point, I suppose I thought that Mike Zeck was the bomb, as the kids say, or maybe Paul Smith. Byrne or Simonson, or maybe Romita Jr’s X-men work. But Kirby? Nope. John Buscema? Nope. Sal Buscema? Heeeellll no. Herb Trimpe? He was the butt of jokes. And I was not the outlier in artistic taste. When you’re twelve, Kirby looks like your granddad’s artist. If you’re lucky, you keep reading comics and look at Kirby with new eyes and an appreciation for the craft when you’re older. Of course, that won’t happen unless you started to read comics young--and hey, what do you know, that’s where the Marvel Age books are targeted: to the young. Hmmm. Maybe this isn’t that bad for the Masters after all. Also: these stories aren’t new, true. But then again, if you’ve never read the originals (or the countless retreads) they’re new to you. If I’m a ten year old reading comics for the first time, I don’t know that Electro has fought Spiderman once a year for forty years; I just know he’s fighting him now, and that it’s cool as all hell. Repitition is only a problem if the audience stays with a book for ten years; it’s not a problem for the new reader.

And of course, this is in no way a vote of confidence that Marvel will in fact pull this off, and will avoid being boneheads about implementing the whole thing.

GOOD NEWS FROM TOKYO

Speaking of manga, good to see that Warren Ellis is planning on writing for Tokyopop, if for no other reason than it signals that Tokyopop isn’t abandoning the adult market in favor of young girls; the thought of a Warren Ellis comic for young girls is slightly horrifying.

FOR THE SLEEP DEPRIVED

Evidently, oral arguments in were held yesterday in the appeal from the Gaiman/McFarlane lawsuit. The MPEG of the argument is here; PDF's of the briefs are here. But remember, heavy machinery should not be operated after reading legal briefs of any sort, and this site cannot be held responsible for any caused by legally induced drowsiness.

Looking at the briefs, Gaiman looks to be in better shape. Gaiman is in even better shape with Judge Posner on the panel. Perhaps more than any other Federal Judge, Judge Posner understands the perspective of an author; Posner is the Brian Michael Bendis of the Federal bench, cranking out book after book after article after opinion, most of impeccable quality, though not without controversy. This perspective is apparent in the oral argument; Judge Posner just lacerates McFarlane's lawyer on the sufficiency of the copyright notice included in various issues of Spawn. And then he tears into McFarlane's counsel for trying to claim that Gaiman had no rights to Cogliostro; after all, Posner notes, if Gaiman had no rights, what was McFarlane promising to get in return for giving up the rights to Miracleman? Given what we know about Todd, it doesn't seem likely that he'd give something for nothing, baseballs excepted.

Now, granted, the tenor of oral argument is not a perfect polestar to the eventual direction of the opinion. Sometimes Judges kick around lawyers whose position they agree with to make sure the parts really fit; or sometimes, just for the fun of it. Federal judges have life tenure, and get to be inscrutable if they want to be. Notwithstanding that caveat, I suspect that Gaiman comes out ok in this appeal. McFarlane's statute of limitations defense is very much crippled by the factual findings of the lower court; appellate courts do not very often disturb findings of fact--that's a big no no for appellate courts, which are not in a good position to evaluate facts or witnesses. McFarlane's second point on appeal, that Gaiman could have no rights in Cogliostro and Medieval Spawn as these characters can't be protected flies in the face of common sense. As Judge Posner points out, if these characters can't be protected, McFarlane Toys is in big trouble; and since McFarlane clearly thinks that--at least as used by him and his company--these characters can be protected, Gaiman could share in the copyright as joint author. Which means Todd owes Neil money or Miracleman, take your pick.

Final observation: it's never good practice to admit to an appellate panel that it's been over a year since you read the case you're putting forward as the touchstone to your legal analysis. Bad idea.

Final observation, part the second: Judge Posner is a personal hero to at least one of us here at the Intermittent. We would very much recommend his book Overcoming Law; a great work about the sources of legal doctrine, impeccably written, and with far more wit than is normally allotted to this type of scholarly work. More Posner here.

DEPARTMENT OF EGO INFLATION

Sean Collins, while smacking Rich Johnston about the head and face, notes that the comics blogosphere broke the Joss Whedon news before the "legitimate" news sites (to the extent such things actually exist). We also broke the story about the Hibbs/Marvel settlement before it the news sites did.

Therefore, if you've been reading this site since October, you've only wasted 97.4 percent of your time.

PTI JLA

Watching Pardon the Interruption today, and Tony Kornheiser notes that the planet Mars has given us, first among other things, J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter.

I have it on reliable authority that he also endorsed Desaad for the Oakland coaching job, what with the need for better team discipline and all.

This latter is a joke, by the way.

A STORY OF SOME RINGS

So. I've since been there, and back again. And there were rings involved, though more symbolic of comiitment than tools to establish power relations; also, the ceremony was unclear as to whether we get to pass into the West or not now--note to self: check on availability of boats. Long story short, there is now an official Mrs. Intermittent, and I am truly fortunate to have found someone to put up with all my tomfoolery and general dunderheadedness. Also fortunate to have so many friends and wellwishers at the event--including Mssrs. James and Dave Jon--and across the web. I am, to quote Richard Ashcroft, a lucky man.

I'm going to be easing back into this thing in the next couple of days. I didn't stay much abreast of news, comics or otherwise, while in Belize (a destination I highly recommend, by the way), and prior to the honeymoon I was preoccupied with trying to hold the wedding plans together; just when you think you've got it all figured out, someones jacket comes in midget size and the connection to the PA system doesn't work. Yeah, that's right--we DJ'ed our own wedding, thus avoiding my having to through a hired DJ off the roof for being obnoxious; and there is something to be said for having the ability to play the Gear Daddies cover of Little Red Corvette when you want a slow song.

Anyway. Thanks again for all the support, both for my wife and I and also for the site--for the half-assed hobby of my mine (the site, not my wife) I've been blown away by the reception. Hat tips, all around; and a promise of more posts, of Intermittent quality.

BLAMING IT ON PRECIOUS

Some of the best things in life are, indeed, intermittent, but some of the beautiful things are still unwaveringly constant. I was there a few day ago when Mr. Intermittent and Mrs. Intermittent told friends, family, the State, God and whoever else would listen that they are in it for the long good haul. And let me tell you, the road ahead of those two is top notch: freshly paved and blessedly unending. When the stunning bride-to-be was escorted down the isle, I'm told the look on Dave's face was in the top 10 moments of a wedding already packed with soon-to-be classics (I desperately tried to subtly crane my neck to see around Dave Jon and the best man, but to no avail). Luckily I'm a kali-wielding tiger claw ninja man, because my tear-dabbing was as stealthy as it was girlish.

The previous night at the post-rehearsal dinner shindig the father of the groom, after getting us started with the toastmastering, was about to pass the mic old school to yours truly. Unfortunately, I only told him the forgettable/regrettable line of, "Aaw, I can't be first..." So I'm saying it now in a custom-made speech for the blog (with the benefit of not having to tone it down for Grandma): Dave and his lovely bride rock harder than AC/DC, are better friends than KG and JB and look better together than a really good collection of your favorite trade paperbacks. They are but mere mortals but their hearts and souls together transcend terra firma into the high country. For these two, ladies and gentlemen, in the words of so many great songs: everything's gonna be alright.

These last few days have been some of the best for me, and are made better knowing there are so many more down my muddy psychedelic moonshiner trail. Mine's a little narrow at the moment, without too much room for a hot little number to ride shotgun, but the wedding of those two did the lion's share of convincing me that it's time to start installing a rumble seat or something. I'm sure I speak for this blog's other shamefully oft-absent poster as well when I say: Congratulations and God Bless Casa del Intermittent!